Lift for a sitz bath



Oct. 25, 1966 J. c. coTNER 3,280,409

LIFT FOR A SITZ BATH Filed Jan. G, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet l INV ENTOR.

-l---iima., uw., tHe- Oct. 25, 1966 J. c. coTNER 3,280,409

LIFT FOR A SITZ BATH Filed Jan. 6, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Oct. 25, 1966 J. c. coTNER LIFT FOR A SITZ BATH 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FiledJan. 6, 1964 Oct. 25, 1966 J. c. coTNER LIFT FOR A SITZ BATH 5Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. e, 1964 INVENTOR. .f/f (aff/ff,

Oct. 25, 1966 J. c. co'rNER 3,230,409-

' LIFT FOR A SITZ BATH Filed Jan. 6, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United StatesPatent O 3,280,409 LIFT FOR A SITZ BATH John C. Cotner, 117 E. RoselawnDrive, Logansport, Ind. Filed Jan. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 335,814 11 Claims.(Cl. 4-185) This invention relates to a lift for a sitz bath, and moreparticular-ly to a lift for -assisting invalids, the aged, etc. ingetting into and out of a bathtub.

It is -an object of this invention to provide Aa ylift for a sitz bathwhich can be simply and easily installed on a conventional bathtubwithout disturbing the permanent tub plumbing, which will permit saidtub to be easily cleaned, which will be accessible to the used from apoint outside the tub, which will safely transport the user verticallyinto and out of the tub, which can be simply and easily operated, whichcan be hydraulically operated by the water source at the tub, which willbe compact and of attractive appearance, and which will prove sturdy anddurable in use.

According to one form of the invention, there is provided a basemountable on the tub rim. A guide post is xedly mounted on the base andprojects upwardly therefrom. The guide post rotatably supports -ahousing carrying a guide tube extending the length of said housing. Avertically movable piston slidable on the guide tube is carried withinthe housing and is rotatable with said housing. Pulley means are mountedon the upper end f the piston for movement therewith and support a cablehaving one of its ends connected to the housing and its opposite endprojecting outwardly through a slot in the housing for connection to achair support.

Said chair support is provided with a plurality of rollers engaging apair of obliquely extending guide members g mounted on the housing. Achair is removably mounted on the chair support and is verticallymovable therewith on vertical reciprocation of the piston between araised position in which it is disposed in the general horizontal planeof the housing above the tub rim and a lowered position in which it isdisposed below a plane of said housing and tub rim. In its raisedposition, the cnair is rotatable with the housing about the axis of theguide post between a loading and unloading position generally norm-al tothe longitudinal axis of the tub and a raising and lowering positiongenerally parallel with the longitudinal tubaxis.

The piston is provided with a head slidably eng-aging the inner wall ofthe housing, and the guide post and guide tube are provided with iluidpassages in open communication with the housing between said piston headand the lower housing end. Said fluid passages communicate with one endof a manifold h-aving an inlet and outlet passage, with the opposite endVof said manifold being connected to a three-way valve. A pair of portsof said valve are connected to the inlet and outlet passages of themanifold, and a third port of said valve is connected to an adaptervalve connected to the tub nozzle. In this manner, the three-way valvemay be manipulated to cause water to flow from the tub nozzle throughthe inlet passage of the manifold to the housing wherein said fluid willcause the piston to raise to effect a raising of the chair. Conversely,movement of the three-way valve to dispose the exhaust passage of themanifold and the housing in open communication with each other willpermit the fluid within the housing to exit said housing to effect alowering of the chair.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent fromthe more detailed description which follows and from the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tub having a lift embodying the inventionmounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2 2 of FIG. 1 showing thelift in a chair-raised position;

-,zg Patented Oct. 25, 1966 FIG. 3 is a vertical section similar to FIG.2, but showing the lift in a chair-lowered position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 4 4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 5 5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal se-ction taken on the line 6 6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged vertical section showing the chairsupportinterconnection;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view through the fluid control apparatus foractuating `the lift shown in FIG. l; and

FIG. 9'is a plan View of the water inlet for the tub shown in FIG. 8,

As shown in FIG. l, the lift is mounted on the rim of a conventionalbathtub 16 at the rear of said tub. The lift is mounted on the tub bygenerally U-shaped platform 17 having a horizontal web 18interconnecting a plurality of ribs 20 resting upon the upper surface ofthe rim 15. As shown in FIG. 2, the outermost rib 20 may project abovethe web 18j and 'be recessed for the recepti-on of a seal 21 adapted -toabut an adjacent wall surface 22 for sealing t-he base 17 against saidwall. The base 17 is provided with a plurality of openings 24 for thereception of toggle bolts 25 pr-ojecting through openings in the tub rim15 for thus rigidly mounting said base on the tub.

The base 17 is provided with a recess 26 in which an annular fiange 27mounted on the lower end of the guide post 28 is seated, said iiangeIbeing connected to the base by a plurality of screws 29. For reasonsthat will become more apparent hereinafter, the guide post 28 has acentrally disposed opening in its lower portion in open communicationwith an opening 30 formed in the base 17. Disposed around the guide post28 in annularly spaced relation thereto is a cylindrical lift housing 32having its upper and lower ends enclosed by end caps 33 and 34. A hollowguide tube is rotatable carried in the guide post 28 and fixedlyconnected to the end cap 34 with its lower end seated against the endcap shoulder 3S. The upper end of the tube 35 carries a plug 36 in whicha screw 37 extending downwardly -through the upper end cap 33 isreceived 4so that upon tightening of the screw 37, the end caps 33 and34 will be retained in position closing the ends of the housing 32. Asshown, the guide tube is provided with a plurality of openings 39adjacent its lower end in open communication with openings 4l! in theguide post 28. Conveniently, a pair of O-ring seals 41 are interposed`between the guide post 28 and guide -tube 35 above and below theopenings 39 and 40.

The housing end cap 34 is rotatably supported on the guide post ange 27for rotational movement of said hous ing about said guide post. As:shown in FIG. 6, said flange has a pair of arcuately spaced arcuaterecesses 42 in which a downwardly projecting pin 43 mounted in the endcap 34 is selectively received. Said pin is slidable in said recessesfor limiting the rotational movement of the housing. By disposing saidpin in the proper recess, the hou-sing can be mounted on either a righthand or left hand tub to permit the chair used with the device to beswung into a position of access from a point outside the tub.

A piston 44 is carried within the housing 32 and comprises a pair ofheads 45 and 46 interconnected by an annular we'b 47 slidably supportedon the guide tube 35. In this manner, the piston 44 is slidablysupported within the housing by the outer walls of the tube 35 and theinner walls of the housing 32. As shown, a packing 48 is carried on thelower face of the head 45 by a follower 49 connected to the head 45 Ibya plurality of screws 50.

The follower 49 has a depending circumferential skirt 49' to retain thepacking 48 and head 45 above the plane of the openings 39 and 40 whenthe piston is in lowered position. Pairs of diametrically opposedlingers 51 project upwardly from the head 46 to support the axles 52upon which a pair of pulleys 53 are mounted. Said pulleys support acable 54 having one of its ends connected to 2a mounting block 55iixedly mounted on the inner face of the housing 32 and having itsopposite end projecting through a vertically extending slot 56 formed insaid housing and enclosed by a channeled guard 57 mounted on the outerhousing face. The pulleys 53 are disposed on opposite sides of ltheguide tube 35, and said tube is provided with a pair of aligned slots S8adjacent its upper end through which a cable stretch intermediate thepulleys S3 extends during vertical reciprocation of the piston 44.Conveniently, cover plates 59 for retaining the cable 54 in the pulleysare mounted on the fingers 51 by screws 60.

The end of the cable 54 remote from the block 55 is connected to abracket `61 mounted on4 the rear face of an apron 62 of a U-shaped seatsupport. Said seat support has a pair of laterally spaced legs 64projecting rearwardly from the apron 62 and provided with a pair ofvertically spaced inwardly projecting rollers 65 adjacent their upperends. The axes of the lower rollers 65 are offset forwardly from theaxes of the upper rollers 65 so that said rollers bear against theopposed front and rear faces of the pair of laterally spaced guide tubes66 on opposite sides of the housing 32. The upper ends of the tubes 66which project above the housing 32 are connected to said housing by amounting bracket `68 xedly mounted on the end cap 33 by screws 69. Thelower ends of the guide tubes 66 are received over the uptumed ends of atubular U-shaped bracket 70 connected by screws 71 to the end cap 34.The guide tubes 66 thus extend obliquely forwardly from their upper endsto their lower ends. A retainer pin 72 projects inwardly from the seatsupport legs 64 to ride against the rear faces of the guide tubes 66 andto act in combination with the rollers 65 for guiding the seat supportalong the guide tubes.

A chair 75 having a seat 76 and 'back rest 77 is removably mounted onthe Ichair support. 'Io this end, a pair of opposed verticallyextending, L-shaped braces 78 are mounted on the rear face of the backrest 77, as by rivets 79, with the legs on each of said -bracesembracing the support apron 62 and one of the legs 64. A pair ofgenerally Z-shaped hooks 80r mounted on the back rest 77 and braces 78adjacent the upper ends thereof project outwardly from the chair forreception in openings 81 formed in the chair support apron 62. As isapparent from FIG. 7, the hooks 80 are removably inserted in theopenings 81 for thus removably mounting the chair 75 on the chairsupport. With said chair mounted on the support, it will be verticallymoved upon vertical movement of the piston 44 between a raised andlowered position and will be rotatably movable with the housing 32 aboutthe axis of the guide post 28.

Act-nation of the piston 44 for effecting vertical movement of the chair75 is effected by the water already available at the tub. A conventionalfaucet normally comprises a hot water Valve 85 and a cold water valve 86for controlling the ow of water into a mixing manifold 87. A nipple 88is connected to the manifold 87 and extends outwardly therefrom forconnection to a nozzle 90. To adapt my device for use in combinationwith such a water source, it is merely necessary to connect an adapter92 to the nipple 88 and to the nipple connection 94 on the nozzle 90. Asshown in FIG, 8, the adapter 92 is provided with a pair of chambers 96and 97 disposed in open communication with the nipple 88 and nozzle 90,respectively. One end of the chamber 97 defines a valve seat 98 againstwhich the valve 100 mounted on -the adapter is receivable. Thus, byadjustment of the valves and 86, the desired water temperature can beachieved, and by opening the valve 188, the water may ow from themanifold 87 through the nipple 88 and chambers 96 and 97 for dischargeout the nozzle 90 for filling the tub. Upon closing of the valve 100against the valve seat 98, the llow of water out of the nozzle will bestopped. A conduit 102 is connected to the chamber 96 and through a slipjoint 103 to the inlet conduit 104 of a housing 106 on a three-wayvalve. The inlet conduit 104 is in open cornmunication with an inletport 107 communicating with an inlet chamber 108. The chamber 108provides a valve seat 109 against which a valve 110 is received. Thestem of the valve 110 projects through a passage 111 and is carried inan opening 112 formed in the housing 106. The upper end of the valvestem is received in a spring 113 acting between the base of the opening112 and a cam follower 114 extending over the valve 110 and projectingabove the top of the housing 106, said spring retaining the valve 119 ina normally closed position against the seat 109.

A discharge chamber 11S is in open communication with a discharge port116 and provides a second valve seat 117 for a valve 118. The stem ofthe valve 118 projects upwardly through a passage 119 and is carried inan opening 120 formed in the housing 106. The upper valve stern end isreceived in a spring 121 acting between the base of the opening 119 anda cam follower 122 extending over the valve 118 and projecting above thetop of the housing 106, said spring retaining the valve 118 in anormally closed position against the seat 117. A valve actuator 124 isswingably mounted on the valve housing 106 by a bolt 125. Said valveactuator is provided with cam faces engageable with the cam followers114 and 122 upon movement of said actuator for thus selectively openingthe valves 110 and 118.

The passage 111 is disposed in open communication with the dischargechamber 115 by a passage 123. It is also connected by passage 126 to theinlet passage 128 of a uid manifold 129 extending from the valve housing106 to the lift housing. A pipe 130 interconnects the end of the passage128 remote from the valve housing 106 to the bottom of the opening 30 inthe base 17 for thus admitting iluid to said guide post to actuate thecylinder 44. The discharge port 116 is in communication with the exhaustpassage 132 carried in the manifold 129, said exhaust passageterminating in a discharge opening at the end of the manifold adjacentthe lift housing.

With the valves 85 and 86 in their open positions, and the valve in itsclosed position, the water will be free to flow from the manifold 87 tothe nipple 88 through the chamber 96 to the conduit 104 where it iscarried into the inlet chamber 108 in the housing 106. To raise thechair 75, it is merely necessary to move the valve actuator 124 to causeit to bear against the cam follower 114 for opening lthe valve to thuspermit water to flow through the valve passages 111 and 126 to themanifold passage 128 where it is carried to the ybottom of the guidepost 28. The water will then flow through the passages 39 and 40 to actagainst the piston head 45 to thus raise the piston to effect a raisingof the chair 75. As the piston is raised, the cable S4 will ride overthe pulleys 53 to cause the chair to raise with respect to the piston.During this raising movement of the chair 75, the rollers 65 will rideon and be supported by the guide tubes 66. With the chair in its raisedposition, the valve actuator 124 is moved to its neutral position tothus close the valve 110 to maintain the uid pressure against the piston44 for retaining the chair in its raised position. With the chair insuch raised position, it may be rotated with the housing 32 about theaxis of the guide post 28 to a loading and unloading position normal tothe longitudinal tub axis as shown in chain link lines in FIG. l, therecess 42 and pin 43 limiting such rotational movement.

l To lower the chair, the chair and housing are rotated about the axisof the guide post 28 to position the chair in alignment with thelongitudinal axis of the tub. The valve actuator 124 is moved to engagethe cam follower 122 to open the valve 118. With said valve in its openposition, the weight of the chair and the person sitting upon it willcauseV thel piston 44 to lower forcing the fluid out of the housingthrough the openings 39 and 40 and back through the passage 128. Sincethe valve 118 is open, said water will flow through the valve passages126, 111, and 123, chamber 115, passage 119, discharge port 116 andnally into the exhaust passage 132 for discharge into the tub. Duringthe lowering of the chair, the rollers 65 will again ride on the guidetubes 66 and said guide tubes will support the chair in a cantileveredposition adjacent theA bottom of the tub. As with the raising of thechair, the cable 54 will move relative to the piston 44 during chairlowering to permit the chair seat tov be disposed substantially belowthe plane of the lift adjacent the tub floor.

As will be apparent, the chair 75 can be removed from the support apron62 when the lift is not in use to provide additional tub space. If it isdesired to remove the entire device, however, it is merely necessary toremove the toggle bolts 25 and disconnect the conduit 102 from theadapter 92. Then the entire device can be removed, and the openings inthe tub rim can again be closed by the toggle bolts 25.

I claim:

1. A lift for a sitz bath, comprising (a) a base ymountable on a`bathtub rim,

(b) guide means fxedly mounted on said base and projecting upwardlytherefrom,

(c) a housing disposed around said guide means and rotatably supportedthereon,

(d) a piston slidably supported on said guide means within said housing,said piston being rotatable with and vertically movable with respect tosaid housing,

(e) a pair of laterally spaced, obliquely extending guide membersmounted on said housing,

(f) a chair operatively supported on said guide members andinterconnected to said piston for vertical movement along said guidemembers upon vertical movement of lsaid pist-on and for rotationalmovement with said housing between a loading and unloading positiongenerally normal to the longitudinal tub axis and a raising and loweringposition parallel with the tub axis, and

(g) -means for connecting said housing to a power source for effectingvertical movement of said piston.

2. A lift for a sitz bath as set forth in claim 1 in which (a) saidhousing comprises an elongated tubular element closed at its ends by apair of end caps, and

(b) said guide means comprises a guide post xedly interconnected to saidbase and a guide tube rotatably carried therearound, said guide tubeoperatively interconnecting said pair of end caps.

3. A lift for a sitz bath as set forth in claim 2 in which (a) saidguide post and guide tube have aligned openings operatively connected toa source of uid power and in open communi-cation with the interior ofthe -housing below said piston.

4. A lift for a sitz bath as set forth in claim 2 in Whi-ch (a) saidguide post has a radially projecting flange at its lower end xedlyconnected to said base and provided with a pair of arcuately spacedarcuate recesses, and

(b) a pin on one of said housing end caps is selectively received in oneof said recesses for limiting the rotational movement of said housing.

5. A lift for a sitz bath, comprising (a) a base mountable on a bathtubrim,

(b) guide means iixedly mounted on said base and projecting upwardlytherefrom,

(c) a tubular housing having its ends closed by a pair of end caps androtatably supported on said guide means,

(d) a piston slidably supported on said guide means Within said housing,said piston being rotatable with and vertically movable' with respect tosaid housing,

(e) bracket means mounted on said'end lcaps and projecting outwardlytherefrom,

(f) a pair of laterally spaced guide members connected to said bracketmeansand-extending obliquely forwardly from -top to bottom along thelopposed sides of said housing,

(g) a chair support slidably carried on said guide members andoperatively in-terconnected to said piston for vertical movement alongsaid guide members upon vertical-movement of the piston and,` forrotational movement with said housing,

(h) a ychair removably mountedon said chair support for movementtherewith, and

(i) means for connecting said housing to a power source for effectingvertical movement of said piston.

6. A lift for a lsitz bath as set forth in claim 5 in which (a) saidchair support has a pair of laterally spaced legs each provided wi-th apair of vertically spaced rollers riding against a pair of opposed faceson said guide members, the axes of the lower rollers of said pairs ofrollers being disposed outwardly from said housing relative to the axesof the upper rollers.

7. A lift for a sitz bath as set forth in claim 6 in which (a) at leastlone of said legs has a pin mounted thereon between its pair of rollersand slidably engaging the same guide member face as the upper roller.

8. A lift for a sitz bath as set forth in claim 6 in which (a) said legsare interconnected by an elongated apron, and

(b) said chair comprises a seat and back rest, said back rest beingsupported against said apron and having a pair of hooks adjacent itsupper end removably mounted in a pair of openings in said apron forremovably mounting said chair on said support.

9. A lift for a sitz bath, comprising (a) a base mountable on a bathtubrim,

(b) a guide post ixedly mounted on said base and projecting upwardlytherefrom,

(c) a guide tube rotatably carried on said guide post and projectingthereabove, said guide tube having a pair of opposed verticallyextending slots formed therein above said guide post.

(d) a housing interconnected to said guide tube and rotatably supportedon said guide post,

(e) a piston slidably supported on said guide tube within said housingand having pulley means xedly mounted thereon,

(f) cable means extending through said guide tube slots and over saidpulley means, said cable means being Iixedly interconnected at one ofits ends to said 4housing and having its opposite end projectingoutwardly through a slot formed in said housing,

(g) a chair operatively connected to said opposite cable end forvertical movement of said chair With and wit-h respect to said piston,

(h) means `on said housing guiding the vertical movements of said chairand operatively interconnecting said chair to said housing for rotationtherewith, and

(i) means for connecting said housing to a power source for effectingvertical movement of said piston.

10. A lift for a sitz bath as set forth in claim 9 in which (a) saidpiston has a pair of vertically spaced heads interconnected by anelongated hollow web carried on said guide tube, and

(b) said -pulley means is mounted on the upper of said pair of heads.

11. A lift for a sitz bath, comprising (a) a base moun-table on abathtub rim,

(b) a guide post ixedly mounted on said base and projecting upwardlytherefrom,

(c) a guide tube rotatably carried on said guide post and projectingthereabove, said guide tube having a pair `of opposed verticallyextending slots from therein above said guide post,

(d) a housing interconnected to said guide tube and rotatably supportedon said guide post,

(e) a piston slidably supported on said guide tube within said housingand having pulley means xedly mounted thereon,

(f) cable means extending through said guide tube slots and over saidpulley means, said cable means being tixedly interconnected at one ofits end to said housing and having its opposite end projecting out-Wardly ythrough a slot formed in said housing,

(g) a pair of laterally spaced, obliquely extending guide membersmounted on said housing,

(h) a chair support having a plurality of rollers adjacent its upper endriding on said guide members and haiving :its lower end interconnectedt-o said op- References Cited by the Examiner UNTED STATES PATENTS2,754,523 7/1956 Bruckner et al. 4-185 3,034,138 5/l962 Fillillng 4-1483,078,473 2/ 1963 Daniels 4-185 3,188,657 6/1965 Cotner 4--185 LAVERNED. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

HENRY K. ARTIS, Examiner.

1. A LIFT FOR A SITZ BATH, COMPRISING (A) A BASE MOUNTABLE ON A BATHTUBRIM, (B) GUIDE MEANS FIXEDLY MOUNTED ON SAID BASE AND PROJECTINGUPWARDLY THEREFROM, (C) A HOUSING DISPOSED AROUND SAID GUIDE MEANS ANDROTATABLY SUPPORTED THEREON, (D) A PISTON SLIDABLY SUPPORTED ON SAIDGUIDE MEANS WITHIN SAID HOUSING, SAID PISTON BEING ROTATABLE WITH ANDVERTICALLY MOVABLE WITH RESPECT TO SAID HOUSING, (E) A PAIR OF LATERALLYSPACED, OBLIQUELY EXTENDING GUIDE MEMBERS MOUNTED ON SAID HOUSING, (F) ACHAIR OPERATIVELY SUPPORTED ON SAID GUIDE MEMBERS AND INTERCONNECTED TOSAID PISTON FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT ALONG SAID GUIDE MEMBERS UPON VERTICALMOVEMENT OF SAID PISTON AND FOR ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT WITH SAID HOUSINGBETWEEN A LOADING AND UNLOADING POSITION GENERALLY NORMAL TO THELONGITUDINAL TUB AXIS AND A RAISING AND LOWERING POSITION PARALLEL WITHTHE TUB AXIS, AND (G) MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID HOUSING TO A POWERSOURCE FOR EFFECTING VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF SAID PISTON.